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Over the years a whole lot of people have customized and built their own so called micro scale vehicles and spaceships from the Star Wars saga and a whole lot of people has also wished for the release of such line by The LEGO Group that now has granted the wish.

Being a former model kit builder and collector being very anal about accuracy and scale I was however very skeptical about this line when I first heard and saw about its release last year even if I do truly know that it’s being made for and aimed at children and younger teenagers.

Even if I do know that this fantastic building toy primarily is being made for and aimed at children and younger teenagers I can’t help being anal about accuracy and scale especially after seeing the “Ultimate Collector Series” and what could be done with the building bricks.

Another reason of mine for being anal about accuracy and scale is because The LEGO Group and their designers has got some of the “System” sets very accurate and in scale and that’s not totally impossible for them to do without making the sets cost a bloody fortune for anyone.

Anyway…

So here comes “my” review of this new Mini Building Set line.

The boxes:

These sets come in a so called clam shell packaging that can be open and closed after you’ve cut the sticker seal open and the parts in plastic bags lays in a very fine cardboard tray/box along with the tiny instruction booklet and can be a nice companion when you go on a trip.

A note:

The picture of Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter on the box has the squadron markings for his “Red 5” on the lower wings facing inwards instead of outwards that would be correct and the same goes for the instruction booklet that has got it all wrong as well as in step 9 and 10.

The instruction booklets:

Is 16 pages long and contains on pages 14 to 15 the complete instruction for building the T.I.E. Bomber and all four sets has this feature as well as pictures on what parts of the T.I.E. Bomber you’ll get in each and every set but you must buy all four of them to complete it.

Also see the above Note that I’ve made.

The building of the sets:

Not much at all to say here, as they’re all very easy to build.

Also see the above Note that I’ve made.

The sets themselves:

When it comes to the T.I.E. Bomber that has been split up in the four (4) sets and that you’ll only get if you buy all four (4) of them at once you’ll get the “left wing” in Set 1, the “right wing” in Set 2, the “cockpit pod” in Set 3 and the “bomb pod” in Set 4 to complete the craft.

This was a very smart move by The LEGO Group and just as smart a move as with their promotional T.I.E. Fighter that has become a very much sought after collectible and it’s basically the same thing with the T.I.E. Bomber only this time you can buy it in the sets.

Of course accuracy isn’t a issue when it comes to these Mini Building Sets but scale isn’t a issue as well as scales goes all over the charts just like all the old MPC model kits released in the late 70’s and early 80’s but the idea of the whole line was probably just same mini size.

Here’s a size comparison but it’s not exact science as it was at first glance:

The X-Wing Fighter and Snowspeeder are basically in scale and are close to the above two just slightly too small in comparison.

The AT-ST are close to the above four just slightly too small in comparison.

The Jedi Starfighter is close to the above five just slightly too large in comparison.

The Sebulba and Anakin Podracers are basically in scale and are close to the above six just slightly too large in comparison.

So far The LEGO Group and their designers has done a pretty good job. Enter Slave 1.

The Slave 1 is basically the same size as the Jedi Starfighter but so very much smaller then the X-Wing Fighter and it’s at this stage the scale issue went out the window as the Slave 1 was quite a large spaceship only rivaled by the size of Han Solo’s the Millennium Falcon.

The Slave 1 should have been released as a larger set just as the coming Millennium Falcon.

The LEGO Group and their designers has however managed to release a product that a whole lot of builders and collectors have wished for over the years and the sets themselves are fairly good representations of the “real” thing when one think of the “scale/size” they’re made in.

To sum things up:

I know that a whole lot of people are excited about the Mini Building Set line and that a whole lot of people say it’s the next best thing to toilet paper (joking) but I’m not that impressed with them but they’re okay and pretty cute to look at but that’s it for me at least.

What I dread even more about this Mini Building Set line is the release of the next four sets this summer as the AT-AT is one real butt ugly mother of creation and out of scale while the Millennium Falcon, Republic Gunship, MTT and Y-Wing Fighter looks really neat indeed.

Just as the case with so many other products released this line could have been a really cool one if vehicles and spaceships could have been made more in scale with each other as it wouldn’t be a complete impossibility to do without prices on them being to high for buyers.

The biggest advantage with this line in my very own opinion is that the ones who can’t afford the “System” and/or “Ultimate Collector Series” lines now will be able to build a collection of vehicles and spaceships from the Star Wars saga without having to pay a small fortune for it.

And that’s good for them but the line could still have been made much better at a low cost.

So therefore I’ll give Mini Building Set 1, 2, 3 & 4 a score of 2 out 5.

There you have it people. Hope you enjoyed my little review and contribution.